


Hanukkah Space Potatoes

by delicatelyglitterywriter



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hanukkah, Hurt/Comfort, Jewish Character, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Jemma Simmons, Jewish Skye | Daisy Johnson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 06:50:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12953688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicatelyglitterywriter/pseuds/delicatelyglitterywriter
Summary: It's Hanukkah. The only problem is, there's no menorah. So they have to improvise.Or, Jemma and Daisy celebrate Hanukkah in space.





	Hanukkah Space Potatoes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [buckysbears (DrZebra)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrZebra/gifts).



> Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish readers out there!!!

“Jemma!”

Jemma turns around at the sound of Daisy’s voice, and sees Daisy jogging towards her. She stops and smiles, waiting for Daisy to catch up. Then, they fall into step side by side.

“Good to see you again, Daisy. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“Yeah,” Daisy agrees, her tone nervous. Jemma halts, prompting Daisy to do the same.

“Is something the matter, Daisy?”

“No, no,” Daisy assures her quickly. “It’s just, well, um...Hanukkah would have started today.”

Daisy’s voice is barely above a whisper, but Jemma hears her. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a long pause before Jemma asks, “Did you want to celebrate it?”

“....kinda, yeah. It’d just be, like, a sense of normalcy, or whatever.”

“Well, then, I’m sure we can arrange some-”

“Here,” Daisy says quickly, ducking her head as she thrusts her hand out. Jemma furrows her brow and carefully takes the object from Daisy. 

It’s a necklace, and appears to have been made out of random materials that Daisy must have found laying around the station. It’s not elegant, not by any means; it’s even quite clumsy and clunky. But it still somehow looks as good as any necklace she’d find in a jewelry store.

“I know it’s not much,” Daisy says shyly. “And that it’s kinda lame, and weird, but-”

Jemma stops her rambling by throwing her arms around Daisy in a tight hug. Daisy seems shocked for a second, but quickly returns it.

“I love it,” Jemma whispers gratefully. “Really.”

She pulls back and Daisy once again ducks her head, but this time she has a smile on her face. 

“Speaking of gifts,” Jemma says, reaching into her pocket. “I made you something, too.”

She pulls out a ring, crafted from some old metal that she’d found laying around. And it’s not just any old ring, it’s a spinner ring. Jemma watches with a grin as Daisy slips it on, her face lighting up in delight when she realises what it is.

“How did you..?”

“I have an engineer for a boyfriend, remember?”

Daisy giggles and hugs Jemma again. Jemma hugs back. 

“Happy Hanukkah, Daisy.”

“You too, Jemma.”

* * *

That evening, the girls meet on level seven, in a secluded area. Tess has agreed to stand guard, lest any roaches appear, or the Kree decide to patrol. 

Daisy has managed to scrape together nine candles, and Jemma has acquired a pack of matches. Neither of the items were easy to get, but they both agreed that it was worth it. 

Daisy lines the potatoes up, as straight as she could, so they were just right. They don’t have a menorah and can’t make one without raising suspicion, and so they have to settle for potatoes. Jemma hopes that the slices are thick enough to hold the candles upright. 

After Daisy sits back, Jemma puts the first candle in the rightmost potato slice. Then, she offers the shamash candle to Daisy.

“Would you like to light it tonight?” 

Daisy nods mutely, accepting the candle. Jemma grabs a match, ready to light it when Daisy gives the indication that Daisy is ready. But the indication never comes.

Jemma waits a few minutes, thinking that Daisy might be just a bit lost in thought. But when several minutes pass and Daisy makes no move to proceed with the ceremony, Jemma starts to get worried.

“Daisy?”

“This isn’t right,” Daisy murmurs. 

“What’s not right?”

“We have to use a menorah,” Daisy states simply, staring at the makeshift shamash. Jemma feels a pang of sadness in her stomach for Daisy. She knows how Daisy feels; it’s just not the same celebrating with makeshift items. But it is important to remember holidays and still celebrate them.

“Daisy,” Jemma says softly, placing a gentle hand on Daisy’s forearm. “You know that there is no menorah  _ to _ be used. You know that as well as I. Let’s just use these substitute items, and-”

“We have to use a menorah!” Daisy suddenly lashes out. Jemma flinches as Daisy throws the candle into the wall. The wax crumbles and the candle falls to the ground in pieces. Jemma’s eyes flick between the candle and Daisy, whose fists are clenched so tightly, her knuckles are white. 

Jemma licks her lips slowly. She knows what she says next is very important, it will either provide comfort, or completely ruin this, and so she considers carefully what she should say. In the end, all she can do is whisper Daisy’s name. It’s combination of a plea, a command, and a soothing word. 

What she gets in return is a sniffle from Daisy. 

Jemma shifts and embraces her, letting Daisy cry into her shoulder. Jemma hushes her and rubs her hand up and down Daisy’s back, until Daisy’s tears subside.

“I just want it to be perfect,” Daisy admits. Jemma hums.

“I know.”

“I hate that it’s not. I-I just think that we’re…”

“We’re what?” Jemma prompts.

“‘S stupid,” Daisy mutters, turning her face in towards Jemma’s chest. Jemma gently forces Daisy’s face back out so that she can speak without being muffled.

“You know that I hate that word, Daisy, so I fully disagree that what you’re about to say is ‘stupid’.”

“I feel like we’re letting down…” Daisy trails off, gesturing vaguely at their setup. “Our people, tradition and just everything.”

After Jemma doesn’t respond immediately, Daisy tries backtracking. “Never mind, it’s s...dumb.”

“Nonsense,” Jemma says with such conviction it makes Daisy’s head turn up to look at her face. “You want to uphold your religion and tradition. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re completely justified feeling this way.”

Daisy nods, and looks back down. 

“Besides, I don’t think that the Maccabeans would mind  _ too _ much,” Jemma jokes, trying to lighten the mood. “You’ve been thrown across space and time; I’m sure they’d forgive you for not having all the materials with you. Plus, they would be much too busy fighting a war to be concerned with potatoes!”

When Daisy lets out a noise that’s a weird mix of a sob and a laugh, Jemma knows that she’s succeeded, and she smiles. 

“Ugh, you are the worst at jokes,” Daisy accuses, though it has no venom. 

Jemma lightly smacks Daisy on the back. “Hey! At least I made you laugh!”

Daisy giggles, and then sighs, the two lulling back into a comfortable silence. They both stay as they are for another little while, before Daisy pushes herself up. 

“Now,” Jemma says. “Let’s put this shamash back together and try again, shall we?”


End file.
